Fast atom bombardment: evidence of disproportionation and recombination of a synthetic porphyrin in the matrix

In addition to dimerization and polymerization of samples as previously suggested, it appears that during FAB-MS, reactions in the sample matrix can occur to yield new compounds that are recombinations of molecular fragments. This type of reaction may be especially critical to the integrity of peptide sequencing using FAB, since the reactions cited in this report involve the formation and rupture of amides or peptide bonds.     

Menstrual cycle patterns of hormones and sexual behavior in gorillas

Oppositely sexed pairs of gorillas were tested behaviorally during the menstrual cycle to determine the relationship between hormone concentrations of the female and the frequency of sexual activity by the pair. Five females were tested individually during two cycles with each of two males, but serum samples for hormone assay were obtained from each female only during the first cycle of testing. There was no clear relationship between hormones and behavior for the single cycle in which the serum samples were obtained, with the exception that no copulations occurred after the early luteal phase, when progesterone was greater than 5 ng/ml. Normalized behavioral data from all four test cycles for all pairs suggested that female-solicited copulations were restricted primarily to the periovulatory period. Male sexual initiative (by one of the males) accounted for most copulations temporally dissociated from the periovulatory period. Normalized hormone data for all of the females suggested that (1) attractivity was associated with estradiol concentrations during the follicular phase, (2) proceptivity with estradiol and testosterone at midcycle, whereas (3) receptivity was not associated with hormone patterns or cycle phase. The data suggest that hormones are one of several variables that contribute to the regulation of sexual behavior in gorillas.     

Microheterogeneity of bovine myelin basic protein studied by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Myelin basic protein isolated from bovine white matter is known to consist of a mixture of three or more “charge isomers”, which can be separated by cation-exchange chromatography. We are using 360-MHz ¹H-nmr spectroscopy to establish the chemical and structural differences among them. Preliminary studies by difference spectroscopy between two of the isomers suggest (a) all aromatic residues, and probably their nearest-neighbors, are unchanged; (b) the less cationic isomer lacks one (or two) of its C-terminal Arg residues; and (c) a significant fraction of the two Met residues in the less cationic isomer is present as methionine sulfoxide.     

Study of Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein in a Human Glioma Cell Line Grown in Culture and as a Solid Tumor

Abstract: A continuous human glioma cell line grown in culture and as a solid tumor was analyzed for glial fibrillary acidic (GFA) protein. This material provided a rich source for GFA protein that could also be manipulated and controlled. Immunoperoxidase staining at the light and electron microscopic levels revealed that the cell culture and tumor specimens were strongly positive for GFA protein. When aqueous soluble fractions of the cell culture and tumor were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, electroblotted onto nitrocellulose and stained immunochemically, they contained exclusively low molecular weight (41–43 K-dalton) GFA peptides. SDS (0.15%)-soluble fractions contained either low molecular weight only (culture) or a mixture of peptides ranging from 41 to 49K daltons. SDS (1%) extracts of either cell culture or tumor contained only 49K dalton GFA protein. Two-dimensional gel separation revealed that the GFA protein extracted from either the culture or tumor with 1% SDS resolved to two or three spots at pH 5.8. Low molecular weight GFA peptides (<49K daltons) in aqueous and 0.15% SDS-soluble extracts became increasingly more acidic with decreasing molecular weight. The extremely rapid degradation seen suggests that this cell line may be a valuable system for further study of intermediate filament protein turnover.     

Effect of Ferricyanide, Ferrocyanide and KCN on Growth and Flowering in the Short-Day Plant Lemna paucicostata 6746

Flowering in the short-day plant Lemna paucicostata 6746 canbe induced under continuous light by the addition of ferricyanie,ferrocyanide or KCN to M-sucrose medium. Each substance is nearly10 times more effective when the flasks are covered by glassbeakers than when cotton plugs are used. By contrast, when floweringis induced under continuous light by copper or by short-daytreatment, neither flowering nor growth are affected by whetherglass beakers or cotton plugs are used. Ferricyanide, ferrocyanideand KCN are also able to induce long-day flowering when theplants are grown on Msucrose medium in small beakers that areplaced in a covered storage dish that also contains a solutionof one of these compounds. Addition of a KOH trap to the storagedish completely blocks the flowering induced by these compounds.If [¹⁴C]ferrocyanide is added to the storage dish both the M-sucrosemedium and the plants contain significant amounts of radioactivity,the amount of radioactivity being proportional to the floweringresponse. These results indicate that ferricyanide, ferrocyanideand KCN break down to release HCN and that it is the HCN whichis responsible for inducing flowering in L. paucicostata 6746under continuous light. ¹Present address: Department of Biology, Osaka Kyoiku University,Ikeda, Osaka 563, Japan. ²Present address: Institute of Horticulture, The Volcani Center,P. O. B. 6, Bet-Dagan, Israel. (Received January 17, 1983; Accepted March 24, 1983)     

Larval development of Diploptera punctata reared alone and in groups

Larvae of the cockroach Diploptera punctata were reared in isolation, in pairs, or in groups of 8–10. Duration of larval development, age at each ecdysis, weights at birth and ecdyses, and adult head-capsule width were measured. Duration of larval development was longer and adult size was larger in isolated animals than in animals reared in pairs and groups. The effect of isolation on development was more pronounced in males. All females had 4 larval instars, whereas males had 3 or 4 instars. The proportion of males with 4 larval instars was higher among animals reared in isolation. There was no difference in the duration of larval development or adult size between pair- and group-reared animals. The sex of animals in the group did not affect adult size or the duration of larval development. Males which underwent 3 or 4 larval instars had different schedules of moulting. Rates of growth of males of both instar types reared in isolation and pairs were similar. Greater adult weight of isolated animals and 4-instar-type males was a result of their longer duration of larval development. Both a higher rate of growth and longer duration of larval development contribute to the larger adult size of females than males.     

Comparison of Two Therapeutic Regimens Using the Same Topical Corticoid for Stable Psoriasis

In a masked, randomized, concurrently controlled clinical trial we compared the therapeutic response of two regimens in which the same topical corticoid was used to treat 52 men who had stable psoriasis. One regimen, called reduced dose, consisted of once-a-day application of a representative potent fluorinated topical steroid ointment, fluocinonide (Lidex), combined with three-times-a-day application of its vehicle. The other regimen, called traditional dose, consisted of four-times-a-day topical application of the same steroid. Patients were assigned to one of the two regimens and observed for six weeks. Confidence intervals for the difference in true mean response under these two regimens provide good evidence that for these patients the traditional dose was not clinically superior to the reduced dose.     

Implication of Triticum searsii as the B-genome donor to wheat using DNA hybridizations

In vitro DNA:DNA hybridizations and hydroxyapatite thermal chromatography were employed to help identify the species ancestral to the B genome of the polyploid wheats. We hybridized 3H-Triticum aestivum DNA to the unlabeled DNAs of T. urartu, T. speltoides, T. sharonensis, T. bicorne, T. longissimum, and T. searsii, 3H-Labeled DNA of T. urartu was hybridized with the DNA of a synthetic tetraploid. AADD. The heteroduplex thermal stabilities indicated that T. searsii was most closely related to T. aestivum (ABD) and that the genome of T. urartu was more closely related to the A genome than the B genome. The degree of reassociation which may have occurred between the six diploid species and the D genome of T. aestivum was evaluated by hybridizing 3H-T. tauschii DNA with the DNAs of the diploids. The results indicated that T. urartu had the least sequence homology to T. tauschii, the D-genome donor lending additional support to the conclusion that T. urartu is related to the A genome. Thus, it is highly probable that T. searsii is the B-genome donor to the polyploid wheats or a major chromosome donor if the B genome is, in fact, polyphyletic in origin.